Abby Says Good Bye to NCIS

After 15 seasons Abby Sciuto (Pauley Perrette) will say good bye to NCIS, I hope she is not killed off as suggested in the preview for Episode 22 Season 15 "Two Steps Back", But if that happens I understand why. I am a fan of the show and understand decisions have to be made and life goes on.

No matter what dark situation happened in the NCIS world, Abby was that point of light in the episode. When Abby hurt you hurt, If Abby said it was going to be OK then it was OK. I am confident if the Zombie Apocalypse ever happen on NCIS, Abby would be a light of hope.

It seems on Twitter that Pauley Perrette has that same spark. Yes I know we have drastic different opinions on how the world should work, but I am also thankful that not everyone thinks like me and people like Pauley exist. Sometimes people need to stop watching actions and listen to what the statement is. Pauley does both very well.

Pauley is one of those people that I can disagree with but like to listen to, not to pick a fight but better understand what I am disagreeing with and maybe just maybe change my attitude. We all have to live on this rock together, we should learn how to get along no matter how deep the divide is. And when I say disagree, it does not mean hate. I truly believe that Pauley is a good person.

Pauley's light shined in Abby on NCIS. Her love for People and Animals and all things good found a way on the show.

Pauley Perrette if you are reading this, I will sincerely miss you and all that you brought to the show.

Cable TV is Killing TV

I don't care what cable service you have, in some shape or form it is a rip off, there is no other choice for the consumer except to act in a slow motion boycott and I am happy to know that is exactly what is going on. The reason for this blog post is to communicate to the TV watching community that it is up to us to say no to the cable companies and that includes Dish TV and Direct TV, they are just as guilty.

Now do to the fact I don't have a study job, I guess I should not apply at the companies I mention in this post. I am sure this will somehow show up in a background search. But sometimes you must speak up.

Before I go on my attack on my cable company, lets look at a article I found about the death of TV, I am not sure if I fully agree with the end result they have concluded with but it uses my Cable company as a prime example.

Cord Cutters are the death of TV

I was at the Time Warner office yesterday dropping off my cable boxes and I want to share the complaints I over heard from other customers.

I don't want the phone service I don't need it.

Can I just get the channels I want.

Can I get just the local stations and prime time networks?

Well if I can't get what I will cancel internet also

You know what the response from Time Warner was?

You can't do that because it is breaking up the bundle

That means it is not the customers choice, it is the cable companies choice. it is never our choice. We just foot the bill. Think about this. For this bundle that Time Warner thought was such a deal, it cost 180 bucks a month for a phone service I don't use, DVR, internet and a bunch of extra channels I don't use.

The cable companies are committing suicide and don't know it or refuse to acknowledge it

180 bucks a month to sit a few hours a day and watch a box, If you read my blog you will know I love my TV, but at what cost? Do you know what you can do with 180 bucks a month? Pay the power bill, help with the rent or car payment, buy food? Pay the cell bill which is another over priced luxury that I may talk about in another post, But not on this blog

After spending a hour on the phone, I still ended up paying 70 bucks a month for internet and a few channels, I still have that stupid phone line I don't need and have never used once. I am looking at what I can do next to cut that price down.

And for you other cable companies that may be reading this and don't think your guilty, all of you over charge for something, even the dish networks, and internet charges are climbing so that is next thing to target for a cheaper price. People are learning to say no, so you may want to get in that think tank board room and think about your product and what your selling.

 

Marvels Agent Carter, Very Smart TV

Last Tuesday night I watched the two hour premier of a seven part series Agent Carter, and I was entertained. This was a smart compelling story and You felt the presence of Stan Lee. And for a first episode, you did not have that long overdrawn introduction of who the characters are and felt the need to build a relationship with them. Yes it is true we know who Agent Carter is from the Captain America movies, but they did not spend a lot of time in building the story, it was already there but not really.

Obviously Agent Carter and a show like HBO's Game of Thrones is very different, but like Game of Thrones it is not over powered by the Sci-Fi /Fantasy genre, but we know it's there. I got the feeling this is going to be the story of what happen to Agent Carter after Captain American. Now you may read this and say no kidding, but do you remember when Marvel Agents of Shield started? In the beginning I could not figure out where the show was going and almost gave up on the show till after it's mid season break in it's first season. Agent Carter TV series, like Agents of Shield will be part of the whole Avengers story line.

With only watching one episode, I am sorry that it's only going to be a seven part series, but I am glad they are doing that so they don't wear out it's welcome by making episodes just to make episodes. But I will catch all of the series and I hope everyone else will too.

I am also hoping to see more Marvel spin offs. Why? well Law and Order worked on NBC, CSI and NCIS works for CBS, so why not more Sci-Fi on ABC. I think LOST 2004-2010 started it all for ABC. And after only 6 seasons ABC learned there lessons about making episodes to make episodes, but the series was very popular and then came ONCE. In most cases networks are learning to make a story instead of having a weekly series. However I still enjoy the weekly old fashion detective show and if the writing is good, there is no problem keeping that type of series around.

Into The World of "The Walking Dead" Part 4 The Governor

The Governor, there are as many questions as there is answers about him. But as evil as he was I liked him as a villain. Andrea loved him until it was too late and got bitten by Milton and not by love. But I am thinking and wondering if it's not possible that he had connections with Gareth at Termius. I did not see any evidence in anything that was said by him or Gareth, but with all the different methods of  transportation we see and don't see, I believe there was connections. The Governor was obviously deeply in some type of post traumatic stress over losing his family in the Zombie Apocalypse. He kept his walker daughter in a closet trying to somehow reform or heal her. In her zombie like state he was still trying to figure out if there was something left of her.

Then there was that aquarium showcase of walker heads. What was the importance of that case? Where they trophies? Did he rotate them out for kills of the week? One thing is for sure is he wanted to be in charge of who he valued as important, because if he did not like you, you died! But here is why I am asking if he knew about the group at Terminus . Lets just say he killed someone and wanted to make sure there body was never found. The Governor was not just a leader he was a business man and until Rick's small group came along, he was well in control of the region. How big was the region? Could he have sold dead fresh bodies to Termius to have peace between the two groups? When the group got to Terminus there was no shortage of food. I assume they had a freezer. I just have a feeling that Gareth knew more about Ricks group and Woodbury then what was said in the show.

In episode 6 of Season 4 "Live Bait" I felt that the Governor was attempting to change his ways because of his bonding with the family and changing his name to Brian Heriot , . And when he saved Meghan Chambler's life and promised to always protect her, that never works in any series and almost a death warrant for the person getting the promise, which it was for Meghan and soon after It was over for the Governor. And when he ran into his old buddy from Woodbury and then killed him that sealed the deal, he was going back to his old ways.

The Governor could have been a Bible salesmen, in the way he convinced his new found group to attack the prison. He almost preached salvation in the way he told them how evil Rick's group was. One big question I had is in the Governor's mind, did he really want to be the leader for his new group or did he want revenge, was he just using his new group as a army. He took a tank to blow up the prison. it seems to me that he would want to kill with minimum damage and not blow the place up. But he kept on blasting the prison over and over again. Why did the group stand by him? Did they really think he was that great of a leader? Your going to get the group a new home but your going to have to blow it up first? I sometimes think he did not care if he lived or died after Meghan's Mom came to the camp with her dead body and he put a bullet in her head. He beat Rick savagely with a raw unrelenting vengeance. There was nothing strategic in his beating. He just wanted to kill, and he would have if Michonne had not put a blade in the Governor's back coming out his chest.

I am not really clear on what the Governor wanted, But in season 3 episode 3 "Walk With Me" he made it clear that nothing would get in his way when he killed the military group. That episode raised other questions.

Whats going on in other parts of the world? I guess the new companion series coming soon will answer those questions.

Is There To Much TV to Watch?

I was taking inventory of the TV programs I watch, and even though I say I am going to cut back, I am still at 100 plus shows I keep up with through out the year. No matter how much I stop watching this or that program, I am still watching many TV shows. You know what I am not doing? I am not reading, which I think is sad because reading requires discipline and TV requires nothing but for you to sit on your favorite chair or couch and eat drink and watch TV and go to the bath room during commercial breaks. If your watching TV with Netflix then you may need to push the stop button to go to the bathroom.

On my twitter feed I have been posting a lot about pre-production of countless shows and TV projects coming to our TV screen soon, and they all sound great, but how would I even think about putting some of them on my watch list? My DVR is already over loaded with shows the family watches, and then the other two DVR's are getting full. I get upset when one of my favorites gets canceled. I should be grateful so that I can fit another one on my rotation. But no I join a fan protest on Twitter.

That's not the worst of it!

Many times you will find actors doing guest spots on different shows and their acting roles are very different and instead of just enjoying the story I become a over critical critic. I find my self of thinking about each role they play and forget about the story I am watching. I mean I am watching the TV story because of the story right?

Then there is the ratings, different networks have different standards. Numbers that are great for one network are a nightmare for another. AMC's The Walking Dead is the most popular show on TV with 17 Million + viewers per episode, if that program dropped to 10 million, I don't think they would cancel the show, but would they panic and start making stupid changes? How many people have to watch a TV show to make a TV executive happy with all the competition now on TV?  In 2013 TNT's Dallas season ratings where 4 million 2014 it dropped to 2 million but did not include delayed viewing and TNT canceled the show.

So if they are not considering delayed viewing, Are networks more worried about the sponsor then the viewer?  Viewers do not like commercials.

Bottom line is viewers will not watch TV when TV networks and sponsors want them to and not every great TV show is going to get high ratings, but that does not mean they are bad.

Letting Your Imagination Go In Your Favorite TV Show

Sometimes I join a TV fan page of one of my favorite TV shows. I am overwhelmed and amazed how every part of a show can be analyzed. I was on a Walking Dead fan page and the discussion was about how Daryl Dixon hugged Carol Peletier after they had been apart for a while. Was it friendship, sexual or parenteral? I never thought of it that deep myself. My thought was they where close friends and where glad to see each other.

I also remember LOST from ABC, That show has been gone for 4 years and people are still asking questions of how it ended and what it meant. it's as if the island is real and something was left behind. I read some of what fans are asking and thinking and I have to ask myself, is the island real? It's like fairy tales for adults. Speaking of fairy tales for adults, what about Once on ABC, has that just not screwed up our child hood dreams? I guess there was never no happy ever after. 

But in the real world we live in, I am glad that people can let their imagination go and leave behind this world and go to their happy place no matter if it is a place of horror or fairy tails gone wrong. And it does not have to be horror syfy or fantasy, it can be a serious drama like a detective show. If the writers are creative enough we can always search for answers that we may never get answered.

I thinks it great when the writers can always keep us guessing as if we live with our favorite characters and know them personally. Because our real problems will always be waiting for us. The only thing that gets to me is when the fan is stuck their in the show and won't come back to reality and take it so personally. I mean this is for fun right? Sometimes I think that the writers and producers that came up with their productions have killed the daytime soap opera. Compare the daytime soap opera writing with the shows we now watch. Even the SyFy drama seems more realistic then what happens in a daytime soap, and that is what gets our imagination. We talk more about our TV shows then our own family. I hear people talk more about prime times shows then soap operas.

But no matter, we love good TV even more then we ever did and we are involved, we are there when are favorite character dies, we cry and mourn their loss. And when that final episode of the series happens we leave them behind but go back with our DVD collections and Netflix, I see no problem in letting go and visiting another reality. Just make sure you come back.

#SAVEDALLAS is worth the fight, but lets be real!

OK, like millions of other people I was upset when the TNT network canceled Dallas after three seasons, but I kinda laughed at the TNT hate and was shocked at the campaign to get a prime time network to pick up Dallas like CBS where Dallas originally premiered back in the 80's.

First of all, TNT is a business, if the numbers don't add up the show is canceled. bottom line! Yes I understand the numbers don't always add up the way the fans see it but I am not boycotting TNT, I like other shows on TNT. I liked Dallas on TNT, but it did not workout, bottom line.

And please stop requesting a prime time network like CBS to pick up the show. Dallas does not have the numbers to compete with other popular network shows. Sorry people but you need to face the facts. Dallas is not life and death unless your a actor out of a job. I love TV shows also, but if they get the ax I move on to the next one until that one is canceled, and if there is a campaign to save a favorite show, I will do what I can until I feel it is at a dead end. Dallas is not at a dead end yet and there is still a lot of support to bring it back to another network, and I can support that and will till I hear from the producers and actors that they have done all they can.

So lets keep it real and do our best to #SAVEDALLAS